Resourcing Tomorrow: Where governments and industry meet

A record number of international government representatives will gather at this year’s Resourcing Tomorrow conference in London as geopolitics and mining converge like never before and critical minerals become the focus of a “new system of clubs and fences”.

About 40 national and provincial governments will have delegates at the event, almost double last year’s number, with 21 ministers sitting down with industry leaders at one of the largest and most consequential government roundtables ever held alongside Resourcing Tomorrow 2024.

They will be welcomed by the 695th Lord Mayor Of London, City of London Corporation, and Michael Mainelli, Executive Chairman, Z/Yen Group.

Trade in critical minerals, says roundtable co-sponsor White & Case, is considered of high geostrategic importance by many governments.

“Where the past 50 years of geopolitical competition over energy security was dominated by oil and gas the next 50 years will most likely be dominated by critical minerals and industrial supply chains,” Jasper Wauters and Nikolas Hertel from the law firm’s Geneva office wrote earlier this month.

In a conversation this month with the Washington, DC-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, US Department of State assistant secretary, Geoffrey Pyatt said the US Bureau of Energy Resources’ (ENR) energy security goals were framed around oil and gas.

In the 1970s, he said, the International Energy Agency was formed with a similar charter.

Now the IEA has an explicit mandate to work on critical mineral supply chains.

“In the same way I have a mandate and my team has a mandate to think about future energy,” Pyatt said.

“When the conversation turns to future energy we’ve got to think about cobalt, lithium, nickel, zinc, copper and rare earths the same way we thought about crude oil and gas as being essential to national security.”

This year’s Resourcing Tomorrow is focused on accelerating the energy transition.

Senior international mining industry leaders and government ministers – including keynote speakers from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Nigeria and Pakistan – will examine ways in which governments, miners and major financiers can collaborate to help the world meet urgent energy transition timelines.

Experts from around the world will guide vital discussions aimed at addressing critical mining and metals value-chain funding challenges, and growing geopolitical tensions and supply-chain security concerns; and streamlining mine permitting and delivery timelines without compromising ESG standards.

“Considerable amounts of political capital are being spent on efforts to spur investment that comports with climate concerns and more rigorous ESG standards as a matter of geopolitical competition and security, not only return on investment or risk management,” said White & Case’s Wauters and Hertel.

“At the same time Chinese investors are racing to secure critical mineral supply chains, generally having a higher risk tolerance, as well as the financial and technical capacity to advance projects quickly.

“Governments of natural resources-rich countries are also looking to leverage their existing relationships with Chinese firms.

“Critical minerals are thus at the heart of the newly developing system of clubs and fences.”

Resourcing Tomorrow’s exclusive 2024 Government Roundtable is co-hosted by the London Stock Exchange and Beacon Events.